January 2018

With the holidays behind us, we look forward to our grand GABA Gala 2018 at the end of January. As is customary, GABA has chosen an honoree for its Award of Excellence to be presented at the Gala. This year, we will be celebrating the achievements of Konstantin Guericke, a Co-Founder of LinkedIn and all around entrepreneur. With dinner and drinks, there will be ample opportunity to mix and mingle while enjoying the luscious San Francisco yacht club venue. Tickets are selling quickly, reserve yours today!

Diversity in Silicon ValleyTuesday, January 16, 2018 06:00 PM - 9:00 PM
Squire Patton Boggs, 275 Battery Street, Suite 2600, San Francisco
Diversity in Silicon Valley - Why diversity and inclusion can be competitive advantages! Join us and our renowned experts for a night of networking and information about diversity and the benefits that come from fostering it.

GABA Gala 2018Friday, January 26, 2018 06:00 PM - 10:30 PM
St. Francis Yacht Club, 99 Yacht Road, San Francisco
GABA California invites you to the annual gala event. As a deeply-rooted community of German-American business professionals, we hope you will join us in celebrating our collective success in building a dynamic organization that unites the California Bay Area and German businesses. This gala celebration will acknowledge our achievements and pay tribute to our members. There is limited seating, please purchase your tickets soon.

SoCal Stammtisch LA at Viceroy Hotel Santa MonicaThursday, January 4, 2018 07:00 PM - 10:00 PM
Viceroy Hotel Santa Monica, 1819 Ocean Ave, Santa Monica
Join us for our first business mixer of the year! The Viceroy's Cast Lounge is a classic mid-twentieth century lounge and bar that not only features a classy ambience with an attractive outdoor pool and garden, but also excellent cocktails. The Happy Hour has been extended exclusively for our group until 8.00pm. Connect, re-connect and enjoy the company of our international guests. We look forward to seeing you there!

SoCal Stammtisch San Diego at Vin De SyrahWednesday, January 17, 2018 06:00 PM - 9:00 PM
Vin De Syrah, 901 Fifth Ave, San Diego
Join GABA for our monthly Business Mixer. Come and relax at this hip downtown urban lounge with botanical chandeliers and thick 50 year old wine vines! Vin De Syrah will extend the happy hour EXCLUSIVELY for our group until 8pm. Expand your business contacts and make new friends!

BCNC & San-Francisco-Ness
Introducing BCNC & San-Francisco-ness: join us for a reception, presentation, and multi-national networking along with finger food, wine and beer from 6:00-8:00 pm on January 18, 2018. Please RSVP at BCNC.biz by January 11, 2018. San Francisco is a place of contrasts with one of the highest rates of tech start up and access to capital, but also income disparity and homelessness. We will explore San-Francisco-ness via the treasure trove of data we have compiled by way of explanation.

Apply for the Start Up Energy Transition (SET) Award!
Powered by the German Energy Agency (dena) in cooperation with the World Energy Council, SET is an international platform promoting innovation in energy transition. The SET Award will identify the most promising global start-ups, bring them to the Tech Festival in Berlin and connect them with a global network! Apply to the SET Award by January 31, 2018. Find out more here.

Women's Startup Lab - Silicon Valley Immersion Program
The Women's Startup Lab has opened applications for their Silicon Valley Immersion Program, a two-week acceleration program that starts on March 4, 2018. Applicants who are accepted will spend two weeks at Hito House, a live-and-work house in Woodside, California. The Women's Startup Lab is the leading accelerator program for women entrepreneurs in Silicon Valley. Garage Technology Ventures is proud to support the Women's Startup Lab in its mission to enable more women to become successful high tech entrepreneurs. More info here.

Venture Summit West
GABA is pleased to support Venture Summit | West, March 13th to 14th in Santa Clara, presented by youngStartup Ventures. A highly productive full-day venture conference, dedicated to showcasing VCs, Corporate VCs and angel investors committed to funding early stage and emerging companies. This exclusive summit will feature a distinguished line up of more than 50 Investors on interactive panels; presentations by more than 50 companies seeking funding, and high-level networking opportunities.
Special discount. Use discount code "GABAVIP" and receive 10% off the "early bird" rates.

Interest Groups

Our Entrepreneur & Venture Capital Industry Group held our annual "Financial Outlook" event on December 7 at the German Consulate General in San Francisco. Leading corporate fund managers from Europe and the U.S. shared their views of next year's overall financial climate and funding for international technology companies while our guests enjoyed networking before and after the panel presentation and enjoyed drinks, appetizers and special Christmas treats.

Member News

Merck KGaA, Darmstadt, Germany
GABA welcomes our new Premium Corportate Member: Merck KGaA, Darmstadt, Germany! Merck KGaA, Darmstadt, Germany has recently opened an Innovation Hub based in Menlo Park. It is responsible for exploring new technological opportunities by building and maintaining local relationships and partnerships. Search areas focus on Innovation Fields, like Biosensors, and support the company's existing business. Merck KGaA, Darmstadt, Germany is a leading science and technology company in healthcare, life science and performance materials. Around 50,000 employees work to further develop technologies that improve and enhance life - from biopharmaceutical therapies to treat cancer or multiple sclerosis, cutting-edge systems for scientific research and production, to liquid crystals for smartphones and LCD televisions. The company holds the global rights to the Merck name and brand. The only exceptions are the United States and Canada, where the company operates as EMD Serono, MilliporeSigma and EMD Performance Materials. More info here.

Job Board

European American Enterprise Council - Internship
The EAEC, an established international market development, and executive recruiting firm, has an opening for an international business, sales & marketing internship at their San Francisco office. More information here.

Merck KGaA, Darmstadt, Germany - Technology Scout
EMD Performance Materials is seeking a Technology Scout (West Coast) to work in line with our "Strategy and Transformation" strategic needs, to drive new opportunities for partnerships with academic institutions and businesses in the Materials and Healthcare space. The role will encompass scouting and evaluation of external opportunities (e.g biosensing, electronics, wearables, big data analysis and material science). Overall goal is to tap into the ecosystem of the Silicon Valley to support business within and beyond the Merck KGaA Darmstadt, Germany sectors by fostering innovation. Learn more here.

Culture Selection

Goethe Institut SF Film "Punk Berlin 1982"Saturday, January 13, 2018, 8:00pm
Pro Arts Gallery, 150 Frank H. Ogawa Plaza, Oakland
Join us on for the film "Punk Berlin 1982" by Director Oskar Roehler. The Film in the context of the exhibition "Brilliant Dilletantes" will be followed by a DJ reception. More info here.